English clubs to lose seedings

Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City will all miss out on being among the top seeds in the Champions League next season if they qualify and Chelsea win the Premier League title.

UEFA confirmed a new seeding system which will see the champions of the seven biggest leagues in Europe named as top seeds along with the Champions League winner.

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea are 10 points clear in the Premier League race and look odds on to be title winners and be among the eight top seeds in the Champions League draw in August. Arsenal and United would both almost certainly be among a strong group of second seeds due to their high UEFA club ranking but City have dropped out of the top 16 clubs according to UEFA's latest co-efficients.

It would be the first time more for than a decade that Arsenal and United have not been top seeds.

City were not top seeds last August despite being English champions.

If the Champions League winner is also their domestic league winner, then the champions of the eighth-ranked association Holland would be named as top seeds.